Addressing Climate Change in the Western Indian Ocean region Julius Francis Executive Secretary, Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA)

Outline  Background of WIOMSA  Climate change and Ports industry  What is WIOMSA doing  Potential areas of collaboration

Objectives of WIOMSA  Fostering research excellence  Developing expertise for effective management  Raising awareness and enhancing access to knowledge and information  Promoting networking, cooperation and exchange  Promoting and advocating appropriate policies and practices

Implement a series of activities that are designed to gradually and systematically build and strengthen human and institutional research capacities to conduct research and translate their results into actions that contribute to the well-being of the people of the region. Mechanisms Activities - Competitive grants -Commissioned grants -Planning grants - Competitive grants -Commissioned grants -Planning grants - Training Courses - writing workshops - Training Courses - writing workshops - Policy briefs - Biennial Symposiums - Policy briefs - Biennial Symposiums - Partnerships -Networks - Partnerships -Networks Research grants Capacity Building Communication & dissemination Partnerships & Networks

Climate change and Ports Industry  “Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level” Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report 2007

Climate change and Ports industry Key findings  Sea surface temperatures (SST) have increased over the 20 th century in the western Indian Ocean (WIO) with the most prominent SST increases by 0.25 and 0.75 o C occurring after  Global sea levels have risen by 20 cm over Sea level rises are not uniform across the Indian Ocean Intensity of cyclones. Period between 1994 to 2007, the intensity upon landfall of the cyclones increased.  Warming of Indian Ocean is reducing rainfall in many eastern and southern African countries. Warming in the tropical Indian Ocean can draw moisture away from Africa, reducing rainfall

Potential Impacts on ports operations  Sea level rise – coastal flooding; breaching of protective barriers and restricted access to ports and challenge to service reliability. Increased dredging and changes in water levels in harbours.  Climate change may increase the severity of cyclones and shifting zones of storminess. This may increase the number of port operation closures and increased damage to ships as a result of wave- current interaction

What is WIOMSA doing?  Consultancy - to assess the situation in the coastal and marine areas of the WIO region in relation to climate change, identify existing climate change response measures, and make an assessment of the key lessons that such existing response measures have to offer.  Regional Conference - Conference on “Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region: Solutions to the Crisis”, Grand Baie, Mauritius from 21 – 23 March  Providing research grants – supporting eleven research projects covering all nine countries in the region

Potential areas of collaboration Impacts Mitigation& Adaptation Quantify the impacts of climate change on major ports and its operations To mitigate impacts of climate change, there is a need to understand the adaptation options available

Thank you for your attention!!